Aniversario de la muerte del P. Franz Reinisch, 21 de agosto de 2003 Anniversary of the death of Fr. Franz Reinisch, August 21, 2003 Gedenkfeier zum Todestag von P. Franz Reinisch, 21. August 2003
P. Ruedi Hüppi, charla en la celebración del P. Reinisch Fr. Ruedi Hüppi, talk during the celebration for Fr. Reinisch P. Ruedi Hüppi, Worte bei der Gedenkfeier für P. Reinisch Fotos: POS Fischer © 2003
22 de agosto: Misa del Capítulo General de los Padres de Schoenstatt, en el Santuario Original August 22: Mass of the General Chapter of the Schoenstatt Fathers in the Original Shrine 22. August: Messe des Generalkapitels der Schönstatt-Patres im Urheiligtum Foto: POS  Badano 2003
Misa de Alianza de los Croatas, Santuario de las Familias, 21 de agosto Covenant Mass of the Croatians, Shrine of the Families, August 21 Bündnismesse der Kroaten im Heiligtum der Familien, 21. August
Momentos de Alianza Covenant moments Bündnis-Augenblicke
Entrega de estampas y medallas Each one receives a picture and a medal Überreichung von Weihezeichen und Bild
28 de agosto: P. Pablo, Indonesia (centro) en la Oficina de Prensa, con su "guía" y con el P. José Barmettler August 28: Fr. Paul from Indonesia (center) in the PressOffice, with his "Schoenstatt guide" and Fr. Joseph Barmettler 28. August: Pfr. Paul aus Indonesien (mitte) im PressOffice, mit seiner "Schönstatt-Führerin" und P. Josef Barmettler
"Quiero llevar la Peregrina a Indonesia." "I want to take the Pilgrim MTA to Indonesia". "Ich möchte die Pilgernde Gottesmutter nach Indonesien bringen!" Fotos: POS Fischer © 2003
Cecilia Gonzalez, de Guadalajara, México: en Schoenstatt para agradecer Cecilia Gonzalez, from Guadalajara, México: in Schoenstatt in order to thank Cecilia Gonzalez aus Guadalajara, Mexiko: zum Danken nach Schönstatt Foto: Welser © 2003

SCHOENSTATT, mkf. "When she comes and takes residence here, all will become new…", Father Kentenich said in 1949 in a talk about the living and lived rosary. The prophetic words repeat again and again. When she comes and takes residence here - in Indonesia, in Croatia, in Uruguay, in Mexico…-, all will become new; she works miracles. Then those who have experienced her motherly care and missionary force, come to the place from where she once set out to visit the remotest places of the world - to the Original Shrine in Schoenstatt.

"This picture is in my Father's house." Fr. Paul, the young priest from Celebes, Indonesia, who has been studying in Munich for four years and who now, soon before returning to Indonesia, covered for the parish priest of a parish in Karlsruhe, had been invited to visit the Schoenstatt Shrine nearby. "This is our Mary. I am just the second generation of Christians in our island, but this picture is in my parents' house since I remember… The missionaries that brought us Christ came from Holland, but: how did this picture come to Indonesia?" A day of searching the Internet followed, then, on Thursday, August 28, 2003, a parishioner from Karlsruhe drove to Schoenstatt with him, to see the place of origin. The history of Schoenstatt, and especially of the picture in the Original Shrine, fascinated him. "As she already came to Indonesia long before I got to know Schoenstatt, what is it that she wants to tell me today for our young, growing church in Indonesia? Nothing without her, nothing without me…" When learning about the Schoenstatt Rosary Campaign, the repeated and extended visit of Mary to Elizabeth, and especially when learning that a Jubilee Pilgrim MTA, loaded with prayers and capital of grace for the start of the Campaign in Indonesia, is waiting somewhere, the answer seemed clear. "I already see these pictures in the houses of the families, I see the children come home and greet the Blessed Mother, I see families pray together and learn to live their faith," he said while looking at the little picture, similar in form to that of the Pilgrim MTA, that he got as a gift. "Good that we have schoenstatt.de," he added, "I will keep in touch!"

Coming from Mexico to thank

Cecilia Gonzales from Guadalajara, Mexico, came to Schoenstatt August 23/24 just for one reason: to thank for the intercession of the Mother Thrice Admirable during the difficult hip operation of her mother past March. "I did not know anything about Schoenstatt as a place, as a movement, just the image of the Mother Thrice Admirable. Coming from Belgium yesterday, at the station in Koblenz I got a taxi and told the driver: Schoenstatt! Yes, he said, and: where in Schoenstatt? Why, where?, I responded. Is there more than the chapel of the MTA in Schoenstatt? I really had no idea!" A friend who had been very sick with cancer had told her about the miracle the Mother Thrice Admirable had worked with her. "She told me that she received the picture during her illness, and that she now is free of cancer; but more than that, that the Blessed Mother had given her so much peace and strength. She gave me the picture for my mother when she had to go to surgery. I only knew that this was a picture from Europe. My friend came to Schoenstatt in October, to thank for her healing. And now I just had to come to thank…"

Cecilia spent a long time in prayer in the Original Shrine…

Calling Uruguay - from the Original Shrine to the first Daughter Shrine

In the evening of August 24, two couples from Montevideo, Uruguay, finally made it to Schoenstatt, after being lost on the highway, looking in vain for signs guiding them to Schoenstatt. They arrived, following a car with Schoenstatt members, at the Original Shrine just for the rosary. What a welcome at the first visit to the Original Shrine: not only expected by the Blessed Mother, but also by the family! After the rosary, a time of silent prayer and the obligatory photos, the four found a warm welcome in House Sonnenau. "All the couples of the Family Movement on Uruguay are now at Nueva Helvecia", one of the husbands shared. The Shrine in Nueva Helvecia, the first daughter Shrine, is to celebrate its 60^th anniversary on October 18. A moment of calculating with the time difference, then the couples headed for the next telephone to call the couples in Nueva Helvecia. "We are calling the first Daughter Shrine from the Original Shrine!", they cried, when they finally got Father Guillermo Mario Cassano at the cell phone. Taking turns with the receiver, they could not stop expressing their excitement of being in Schoenstatt and at the same connected with the family movement in Nueva Helvecia.

A family get-together

Almost each day of this week around the feast of Mary as Queen has been like a family get-together, crossing culture and language barriers, around the Original Shrine. A couple from Liverpool, Pat and Bill McEvoy, came with two friends, a couple from Monterrey, Mexico, each night joined the rosary by the Original Shrine, as well as the two Fathers from Puerto Rico, of the Community "Esclavos de la Eucaristia", who on Monday visited PressOffice Schoenstatt to share about the 20^th anniversary of their Shrine come February and the construction of a new Shrine in the yard of their building. The community is associated to Schoenstatt, each member has made the Covenant of Love.

In the House of the Families, English families are having their annual retreat, the Schoenstatt Girls' Youth of the diocese of Trier started their camp in House Sonnenau on Friday, August 22.

On August 22, the General Chapter of the Schoenstatt Fathers celebrated their Holy Mass in the Original Shrine, accompanied by some lay onlookers.

Rosary at dawnbreak at the anniversary of Father Franz Reinisch's death

Father Franz Reinisch, whose 100^th birthday was celebrated in February at various places, attracted a group of Austrians who came to Schoenstatt just to be present for the anniversary of his death. Early in the morning, at dawnbreak, on one of the first cooler days after the heat wave of this summer, they got up and silently walked from House Sonnenau to the Original Shrine. At the hour of Father Reinisch's death they prayed the rosary by his tomb behind the Original Shrine.

In the evening, some 150 persons gathered by the tomb of Fr. Franz Reinisch to meditate on his life and death, and ask for his intercession in the personal and community decisions to make today. Texts from his letters and diary were read, and alternated with songs, prayers, and longer texts about his vocation and mission. The celebration was marked by the 75^th anniversary of his ordination (June 29, 1928).

The celebration ended with the song that Father Reinisch wrote in the prison cell, short before his death - the song with that young people in Latin America sing out their enthusiasm and youthful readiness to give all for Schoenstatt.

With the Croatian Flag and the Pilgrim Mother

Between August 17 and August 22, approximately 90 pilgrims from Croatia visited Schoenstatt, accompanied during all their celebrations, Masses, and prayer times by the Croatian flag, and a picture of the Pilgrim Mother. Thanks to the Pilgrim Mother, Schoenstatt is growing strongly in Croatia and the neighboring countries. On August 21, the Croatians had their Covenant Mass in the Shrine of the Families. The Croatian flag was posted outside the Shrine. On the altar, the picture of the Pilgrim Mother had a special place of honor. Father Christoph Horn, and Mons. Ivan Seso, concelebrated.

Individuals and groups from the different branches - mothers, families, youth… - prayed their dedication prayers in the Shrine, silently accompanied, from the background, by missionaries of the Campaign from Portugal, Germany, and Argentina, and Miguel, a young man from Chile.

Each one of those who made the Covenant, then received a picture of the MTA and a medal. Faces radiating with joy, hands trembling… it was a moment of experiencing the closeness of the Blessed Mother, and of family. The group also renewed the Covenant of Love that as Croatian Schoenstatt family.

On Friday, August 22, the Croatian pilgrimage had a closing Holy Mass in the Adoration Church - again with Covenant Renewal. August 22, when the Church celebrates Mary as Queen, is the Croatian Marian Feastday. The flag, and the Pilgrim MTA, presided also this Mass. She will work miracles in Croatia…